Former Jersey City BOE President Ali Announces Candidacy For Mayor

The youngest person ever elected in Jersey City, when he just 20 years old to the Jersey City Board of Education, a past Board President, Harvard Law School graduate, founder of an education non-profit, the Ali Leadership Institute, and a stage 4 cancer survivor, Mussab Ali today announced his candidacy for Mayor of Jersey City.

Ali, now 27,  announced his campaign with the following video.

Ali stated, “Deciding to challenge the status quo and run for Mayor was no easy choice. But seeing our city—the most diverse in America—struggle with issues like affordability and gentrification, and grappling with the shadows of machine politics, I knew I couldn’t stay on the sidelines. Jersey City raised and educated me. When I became the youngest elected official in our city’s history, it was because you trusted me. Now, I’m ready to champion a Jersey City that works for all of us.”

In the video announcement, Ali speaks of his parents who immigrated to Jersey City 25 years ago in pursuit of a better education for their children.  Mussab’s mom, a union educator, and his father, a union postal worker, taught him the importance of community, justice, and service to others. Mussab has dedicated his life to those principles and is running for Mayor to give back to the community that raised him.

In 2017, Mussab ran for Jersey City Board of Education and made history as the youngest elected official in Jersey City history at just 20 years of age and the youngest Muslim elected in the country at the time.  The video says he “worked with community groups to start a lead remediation project which had been stalled since he was in elementary school. Later elected President of the BOE by his peers, Mussab worked to raise teachers’ salaries to $61,000 per year, abolish student lunch debt, and raise the minimum wage to $17 per hour for all district employees.”

After graduating from Harvard Law where he served as student body co-president, Mussab returned to Jersey City and now researches housing displacement in his hometown.

Ali joins a field of announced candidates for Mayor of Jersey City which includes former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, longtime Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea and Jersey City Council President Joyce Watterman.

Ward E Councilman James Solomon and Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker are other potential mayoral candidates.

Current Mayor Steven Fulop is seeking the Governorship.  Election day in Jersey City’s non-partisan race is November 4, 2025.